Why I love Ron
HP 7.1 was the best HP film to date. Lemme tell you why.
There is contention in my household. My bf only read the first three books in the HP series and believes that only the first two films should be counted. Because "they stuck to the story." I get that. I get emphasizing plot, making sure nothing gets left out. But something really important (I feel) isn't emphasized in the first two films. Now maybe this is because of the age of the actors, or because of the director's vision, or because in order to cram all of the plot into a film you just miss out on this... but the third film, to me, seems like a reboot for the series. My bf thinks the third film "sold out" ... I think the third film is the first of the series to do the filming of HP right. And all that was started in 3 is hyper-focused in 7.1: the aesthetics, the sound, and the connection between the Trio is emphasized in the films post-3. Not so much in 1 & 2 - specifically the connection between the Trio. It's set in the first two films as if the characters keep running into each other in the hallways at Hogwarts and just so happen to start talking. The emphasis on the character's closeness begins in 3 - Harry hugs Hermione and protects her with his body several times. And they are shown outside more - scenes take place more so among the stunning natural visuals that surround Hogwarts rather than in the crowded, impersonal hallways.
So let's get into 7.1!
1) SPACE
Aesthetically, nothing beats 7.1 so far. The scenery and sense of space is amazing. Let me explain:
This film does a fantastic job from the first sequence of scenes in showing the audience how Ron, Harry, and Hermione are alone. The angles, the setting, the colouring all show the Trio as solo-artists. When they are without each other they are truly alone. Even in her childhood home, Hermione is not truly a part of her family anymore. Even though we can see Mrs. Weasley in the background, Ron's back is towards her and he stands as the tallest point in a sparse setting. Harry has always been alone in his home - emphasized by long shots of the Dudley's leaving without speaking to him (yes, it was touching when Dudley hugged him goodbye in the book, but in the film it's more important to set the scene at this point) and more importantly, Harry saying goodbye to the cupboard under the stairs. The angle is shot from below, to emphasize Harry's growth, he no longer fits in the cupboard, it entraps him. In contrast to Ron's opening sequence which shows tall-Ron in an open field and small-Hermione walking down a road alone, Harry's space is too small, confining. This sets up the way these characters will feel and deal with the events for the rest of the film. Harry is struggling with lack of knowledge and feels entrapped in the situation. Ron feels cut off from everyone, in a field all alone looking at nothing. While Hermione senses the path they must take, but has no way to navigate it and feels desperate in leaving her home behind (this is emphasized repeatedly by Hermione choosing rich "camping" environments that symbolize both a connection to her past with her parents and the Trio's isolation from society and humanity... remember all of the longshots of the solitary tent in a large, open space). ALL of this is done in less than five minutes with relatively NO TALKING! The only people we hear speaking or making any noise in this set-up are the families of the Trio. AWESOME!
Okay, now that the Trio has been set up as three solitary individuals, alone with their own problems, then they are brought together and the game changes. Suddenly they are alone together. Even in Harry's house with a dozen other people surrounding them, Ron, Harry, and Hermione are set in the middle, close to each other but separated from the rest of the group. Throughout the rest of the film the Trio is shown huddled together, always almost touching.
A close-up of Ron and Hermione's hands inches from each other's which pulls back to show the two sleeping emphasizes how close but how separated the two are. Now, this has to do in part because neither has admitted romantic feelings for the other, therefore they are close- but not too close. However, this also reveals the physical closeness of the whole Trio, all three choose to sleep in the same room for safety and emotional comfort, rather than find beds for physical comfort. Scenes throughout the film show the three always close together, either in pairs or as a solid unit. Harry and Hermione specifically are shown (from Ron's perspective primarily) as close. Physical proximity in the film reveals the way they think about each other (Ron feeling ostracized from the two) and how close emotionally they all are. The shots of the tent (which symbolizes the Trio in some instances and Harry/Hermione when Ron is not there) alone in vast landscapes emphasizes that the Trio is a unit that is alone. The film sets them up as three solitary figures to begin and then combats that through the rest of the film with repeated images that link them together. There is something about this unit that is apart from the rest of the world. Their bond is beyond normal rules - but this is *just* what the images tell us. There's more.
2) SOUND
Echoing the first sequence, this seems to have relatively less dialogue than any of the previous films. There are long stretches of silence that emphasize the characters emotions, and all the things that the Trio is keeping from each other. This is especially pronounced and important after they get the locket from Umbridge. This is an internal journey as much as it is a very physical journey from place to place in order to dig up clues. And the few times the Trio speaks to each other (once they have the locket) it is an explosion of sound and frustration. Compare Ron leaving to Harry and Hermione's dance: Ron is loud, frustrated and the music is understated and soft, leaving the actors only with their own voices, but when he is gone there are no words, Harry and Hermione dance, but they don't speak and the music (which they can hear as well) swells and fills the space. AWESOME.
Also - the soundtrack is amazing. Start listening to it now. I have been for the past 2-3 weeks on grooveshark, but wasn't prepared with how fitting the music is to the scenery.
One point of contention about this film that I have seen and agree with is that we miss Ron's screaming Hermione's name while she's being tortured. However, just thinking about how that would translate on screen makes my heart break. So: I have two theories about this.
One is that the film had a hard enough time dancing on the line of darkness. The filmmakers knew that small children (though they shouldn't) would be brought to this film and there is an evident struggle in the film not to go too dark. Any place where real, physical lightness can be brought in, it is. The themes of the film are dark, the plot is dark, everything is pretty scary and depressing. I think that the filmmakers might have sensed that Ron's screaming out Hermione's name would have tipped the scale a little too far for the film. Audiences are used to an HP world that is bright and cheery.. though freaky. There's always been a balance between Voldemort and Dobby. That kind of intense emotion would have tipped the scale too far for audiences unfamiliar with the novels. It's heartbreaking. It's meant to be. And it may have been too much on-screen.
My second theory falls in line with the rest of my thought-process. Hermione's screams are important. They are (for the sake of the film) *more* important than Ron's. Why? Because it calls to the audience's attention the sense of loneliness from the opening sequence. Hermione is alone. When she's being tortured that's it. It's only Hermione. And so they did this right. Her screams coming through to the silence of the cellar is perfect in symbolizing how cut off Ron and Harry are from her in that moment. There's nothing they can do. And in order to really capture Hermione's experience in a way that flows with the rest of the film is to do it with SOUND. Only her voice tells the audience/Ron and Harry what is happening to her. Yes, there is a brief interlude where we see Bellatrix on top of Hermione, but that moment is merely to cue the audience to why there is any torture happening in the first place. This scene perfectly parallels the scene in which Ron leaves. Harry doesn't see (and therefore the audience doesn't see) Hermione begging Ron to stay. All the audience knows from that scene is Hermione's voice. When Hermione is in dire emotional distress, she is so alone the audience isn't even allowed to see her, all we are allowed to know is her voice. This is such great filmmaking. And the fact that the two scenes parallel each other so perfectly is *fantastic*. Both times we hear but cannot see Hermione in distress, Harry is standing perfectly still, completely entranced by the pain he cannot soothe away for her. So, yes. We lost some Ron-time in that specific sequence. But Hermione is therefore made more important. Which is RIGHT. Because JK Rowling shafted Hermione towards the end of the series and she's still important, especially to me. A kick-ass female "Mudblood" witch is exactly what Ron and Harry... and the wizarding world needs. Yes, we lost a Ron-centric moment. But I'm really okay with that, because it brought Hermione's emotions into focus. And all because of SOUND. AWESOME.
3) THE TRIO
All of the space and sound in the film works together to create an emotional bond between the TRIO for the audience. Harry and Hermione's dance is a perfect example of this. The love and pain that these three share is beyond anything that we have seen in the previous films and their dance scene perfectly captures this, and Harry's place in Ron and Hermione's life. He loves so deeply for his friends, he created a family when he had none. Ginny's relative absence from the films emphasizes that romantic love is not what this is about. Hermione and Ron's distance emphasizes this further. The TRIO is capable of a shared love that is beyond romantic. And as we've seen in the novels, romantic love (aka Snape/Lily) can become twisted and dark, easily manipulated. But the "bro"-mance of Ron/Harry/Hermione perfectly mirrors that of Sirius/James/Lupin and is depicted in the novels and now the films as more important, more pure. This is not necessarily true - but for the HP world it's important.
This film is first and foremost about the relationships between Ron, Harry, and Hermione. All of this is revealed in the sound and space, not specifically in the dialogue or plot. We still have the main plot as focus, defeating Voldemort is the "purpose" of the final book and therefore the final films. But in all of the spaces between, there's the TRIO and how much they love each other and how they work as a unit. Let's face it - this universe has been about love from the very beginning. Ron's interaction with the locket (though evocative and rightly sensual in the film) is true to the series - what these characters seek is love and what defeats Voldemort is love. We know it's coming - Harry's ultimate sacrifice to save the world. Which is why the first installment is so important - and why I'm so glad that it focused on the TRIO's love.
Which brings me back to film 3, which de-emphasized and lost plot points in order to begin establishing the bond between the TRIO. Which is why it's so important to me in terms of the films' narrative. In order to establish their connection and the importance of that connection, plot-points are lost. The novels are not perfectly translated to film because there's a lot of time and space involved in order to do everything I've outlined above. Which is not just okay with me - I find it utterly necessary. I needed to see an emotional connection between the TRIO, it will make Harry's sacrifice seem important and necessary. Film is a different beast than the novel form and certain aspects of plot have to be sacrificed in order to establish emotional connections between characters. And I'm loving the results!
And in other news: I'm completely in love with Ron and want Harry/Hermione to be my best friends... can someone make this happen for me?